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The Morung Express
Dimapur VOL. VIII ISSUE 265
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www.morungexpress.com
Gere and wife to divorce
Policy makers deliberate on pertinent mountain state issues [ PAGE 02]
Nairobi attack puts spotlight on mall safety
[ PAGE 11]
[ PAGE 08]
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
Friday, September 27, 2013 12 pages Rs. 4
To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act out the new behavior
Terrorists kill 12 in Kashmir, PM says talks on
[ PAGE 09]
Morung Express News
UN urged to send “books not guns”
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UNITED NATIONS, SEPTEMBER 26 (AFP): With a maturity and poise that belied her tender years, Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls’ education stood by world leaders on Wednesday and called for books not guns. “Instead of sending weapons, instead of sending tanks to Afghanistan and all these countries which are suffering from terrorism, send books,” she pleaded. “Instead of sending tanks send pens,” she urged, her hair modestly covered by a scarf as she took part in the first anniversary of the Global Education First initiative at the United Nations in New York. “Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers,” Malala argued. “This is my dream to see every child to be educated,” Malala told the gathering, building on themes of one of her heroes, Martin Luther King. “This is my dream to see equality for every human being.”
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tisuh Sazo resolved that they would immediately come together to form the Nagaland Chapter of GLOBE India. To initiate the process of integration with GLOBE India, Mmhonlumo Kikon, MLA and chairman MARCOFED has been nominated to complete this process within the next three months. Altogether, 51 elected members from 11 mountain states participated in this 1st Indian Himalayan Legislators Meet.
The second day of the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit III concluded with two thematic sessions on Water, Forest and Agriculture with Snehil Kumar, Prof. Sanjay Deshmuk and Mona Dhamakar as the main facilitators. Two parallel sessions on Policy makers Dialogue and Indian Himalayan Legislators Meet were also held. The Policy Makers Dialogue was held at the Higher Education conference hall where a number of legislators, officials and resource dignitaries discussed on issues crucial to the mountain States of the country. “Every good policy is always based on a very good practise and every good practise has a sound policy behind it.” said Dr. R S Toli, former Chief Secretary, Uttarkhand. Nagaland Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Dr. Benjongliba said that there is a need to set up a strategy that is essential to mountain States. “Production and marketing support and proper road linkages should be placed on priority while framing
the strategy. Due to non availability of markets the farmers are not encouraged to produce more, although the State has promising farming potential.” Dr. Bengjongliba further added. M.S. Rathore, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India, pointed out that infrastructural support is a must and adequate connectivity should be prioritised to minimise production problem. Commissioner and Secretary, School Education, Imkonglemba Ao said that the mountain states need to think of long term policy, particularly in agriculture and allied sectors with aims to expand agriculture production, sale and marketing and food processing. He said this is a major concern as 70 percent of the North East people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Representatives from Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland came up with proposals for hydro electric project in the mountain states. Dr Toli supplemented that the pros and cons of hydro power should be taken into account as a major agen-
da of the mountain states. Talking on Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) Dr Toli stated that the number of CSS has been brought down from 147 to a manageable 60 odd, and termed it as a major re-structuring of CSS. The CSS has been re-structured under 3 schemes namely flagship schemes, subsectoral schemes and umbrella schemes. Dr Toli further said, “Any new flagship programme would be 100 percent centrally supported scheme.” He encouraged policy makers of the mountain states for working out on new flagship schemes to avail the opportunity of the 100 per cent scheme offer. The dialogue also concluded on how CSS should be looked at, not only in terms of investment but in terms of money that has been saved. M Patton, Commissioner and Secretary planning and coordination Nagaland spoke on how all mountain states are special category states where resource is a big issue. He emphasised that maintenance of assets is a big part of the CSS program citing the example of the maintenance of roads, which is one main issue in Nagaland.
DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 26 (MExN): Jailed NSCN-IM leader Anthony Shing (Ningkhan Shimray) in an open letter informed that he will begin a threeday fast from September 27 to mark the completion of three years of “illegal detention” in Tihar Central Jail. Anthony also demanded all political prisoners should be released without conditions “for the sake of strengthening the fragile peace process,” and called for an end to “killings and random arrest.” Meanwhile, the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) has expressed serious concern
with regard to Anthony’s case, who went ‘missing’ on September 27, 2010, from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International airport. A NPMHR press note pointed out that Anthony was flying in to Nepal from Bangkok on his way to New Delhi to attend the September 29, 2010 peace talks between Government of India (GOI) and NSCN-IM. It informed that “preliminary investigations initiated by a human rights group in Nepal showed that he had filled in his Disembarkation Card giving his hotel address,” and “is believed to have cleared Nepal Immigration without any problem. After
passing through Immigration, he was untraceable.” It stated that only on October 2, 2010, due to the mounting pressure from national and international human rights groups, the Government of India “admitted to arresting him.” It informed that Anthony was picked up from Kathmandu airport and brought to Patna (Bihar) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and since then has been languishing in Tihar Central Jail, New Delhi, on charges of procuring arms and waging war against the State (India). Meanwhile, NPMHR has reminded that India as a signatory to the Interna-
tional Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which states that “No one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance”. It said that “His enforced disappearance, arrest and illegal detention is not only a violation of the convention and human rights but a strong deterrent to the ongoing peace process.” In solidarity with Anthony Shimray and all political prisoners, the NPMHR will be observing September 27 as a “Black Day.” A candle light vigil will be held at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. Full text of Anthony’s letter on page 4
Kohima | September 26
Kohima | September 26
PEREN, SEPTEMBER 26 (MExN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) visited Jawahar Navodaya Vidyala institute (JNV) Jalukie on September 25 along with the students who had left the institute on September 23 due to ragging by their juniors. A press note from the NSF stated that a joint meeting with the students of class X, XI and XII of the school along with the parents in presence of the school authority and SDO (C) Jalukie was held. NSF General Secretary and Education Secretary in a note said that the “unfortunate incident at JNV Jalukie on September 23 was not based on tribal lines but it was over exercise of power by the students of class X who are endorsed by the school authority to look after the students at JNV Jalukie.” According to NSF, students of class X, XI and XII gave assured that such an incident will never happen again and further avowed to maintain conducive atmosphere for study and peaceful co-existence amongst the students. While expressing dissatisfaction over the lack of authority in the institute, NSF urged the school authority to strictly implement rules and regulation and impose discipline on the students within the school campus so as to avoid such unfortunate in future. The NSF appealed to all the principals and higher authority of JNV institutes in the state to be vigilant and cautious of ragging and undue exercise of power by the senior students in the institute.
Ronaldo rescues Real with late penalty
Production, marketing support, road linkages for mountain states
Chizokho Vero
NSF cautions against ragging
”
–Maxwell Maltz
the Mountain Discourse: sustainable Development
Legislators from Mountain states resolve to work together
Is that his idea of Look East policy?
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Elected members from the Indian Mountain states today resolved to come together under the banner of Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) Pan Himalayan Legislators’ Forum. This was decided during the 1st Indian Himalayan Legislators Meet in Kohima To take the endeavor forward, Speakers for Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Chotisuh Sazo and Sikkim Speaker, Karma Tempo Namgyal Gyaltsen will jointly write to the speakers of all mountain states in India to take action within their own legislative assemblies. “This effort will be facilitated by IMI in collaboration with GLOBE India,” said Sazo, while announcing the draft resolutions at a press conference on September 26. The resolution stated that efforts will be directed towards addressing environment related policies and legislation needed to
In this image, Dr. R.S. Toli is seen addressing the Policy Makers Dialogue at the ongoing SMDS-III at Kohima on September 26. (DIPR Photo)
address growing concerns as articulated by organizations like IMI. The meet also welcomed the Kohima declaration presented by the Indian Himalayan States Youth Summit 2013. All the legislators and elected members present at the meeting expressed solidarity with the thoughts, concerns, expectations and suggestions detailed out in the declaration. It was further resolved that the legislators,
in groups and in their own states, would examine all issues and come back in the next summit with concrete policies, programmes and solutions. The meet fully supported IMI and SDFN activities and supported their process and outcomes. It assured to fully help by way of better and more effective ways in the future. All legislators of Nagaland under the chairmanship of NLA speaker Cho-
Discrimination continues Three-day fast to mark 3 years of ‘illegal detention’ towards the HiV affected
DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 26 (MExN): Seven years on, the HIV & AIDS Bill drafted to protect people living with HIV (PLHIV) from discrimination is gathering dust with lawmakers virtually choosing to sidestep the Bill. The Bill was drafted in 2006. The Union Health Ministry after finalising the Bill in 2006 submitted it to the Union Law Ministry the same year. It took the Law Ministry almost three years to give clearance, subsequently sending it back to the Health Ministry. According to the National Coalition on HIV & AIDS Bill, the Health Ministry did not act on it and sent it back to the Law Ministry in 2011. The Coalition is a forum - comprising various stakeholders of the Bill, including lawyers and NGOs - spread across India, which is pushing Parliament to turn the Bill into an Act of Law. At present, the Coalition is worriedly lobbying to have the Bill passed before a new government is formed in New Delhi. Raman Chawla, senior advocacy officer of Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS unit, is strongly of the view that the Bill must be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament. Lawyers Collective played a crucial role in drafting the HIV Bill. The Winter Session, according to Chawla is crucial as it is the last sitting of Parliament before the nation goes to polls in 2014. “If the Bill is not tabled in the Winter Session, the next government will have to start from scratch,” said Chawla, who along with Daisy David, advocacy associate of World Vision India are presently in Nagaland to garner support for the Bill. Chawla and David, along with Dimapur-based
NGOs active in HIV intervention and PLHIVs outlined the importance of the Bill and its core objective, during an interaction with newspersons in Dimapur on Thursday. Moa, a PLHIV, outlined various instances of intolerance that people living with and affected by HIV have to endure in Nagaland. It was obvious from his account that the oft repeated words ‘discrimination of PLHIVs’ starts from the family, almost turning HIV affected people into social pariahs. He said that he was even ostracised from the church because of his HIV status. In such
Amidst political apathy, movement for HIV Bill grows a scenario, protecting the confidentiality of PLHIVs is deemed crucial While highlighting the difficulties faced by PLHIVs in seeking medical attention, he said that confidentiality is seldom maintained. Children of PLHIVs are denied admission in schools, while there have been many instances when “we were denied attention by private medical practitioners in times of emergencies,” he said. Furthermore, widowed HIV+ women are shunned by their own relatives; while there have been many instances when children are told by their parents to avoid children born of HIV+ parents. “Discrimination is deep in our (India) hearts,” said Daisy David, who recounted the resentful attitude of people towards her as
an HIV outreach worker. Referring to the governmental support in HIV advocacy, she said that funds continue to flow but the lives of HIV affected people is not getting any better. On paper, the records may show an improving trend yet the situation at the grassroots tells a different story, she added. Of her experiences in Nagaland, she commented that it is very difficult to get PLHIVs to ventilate their problems openly because of the prevailing condescending attitude of people. Bendangchuba of Solidarity and Action against the HIV Infection in India (SAATHI) said that most PLHIVs are not aware of schemes which can be accesses to avail help. “We’ve seen a lot of discrimination here,” said sister Agie of Chavara Home, Dimapur. Recounting one incident, she said that there was nobody to claim the body one person who died of complications from HIV. This month alone, 75 new HIV cases have been registered at the Home. These are the sort of discriminations, the HIV & AIDS Bill seeks to address across the country. Right to informed consent and confidentiality, easier access to free treatment, institution of IEC (Information, Education and Communication) programmes, special provision for women and children, meaningful involvement of PLHIVs in formulation of programmes, legal immunity to targeted intervention programmes and appointment of quasijudicial authority to address violations are some of the features of the Bill. A unique feature of the Bill is the ‘antidiscrimination law,’ which seeks to bring the private sector within its ambit.
‘Morning by morning new mercies I see …’
World Deaf Day observed in Dimapur Morung Express News Dimapur | September 26
Many were moved to tears as students of the Deaf Biblical Ministry (DBM) poured out their hearts in the song ‘Great is thy faithfulness’, the theme song of the Ministry. The occasion was the observance of World Deaf Day held Thursday afternoon at DBM premise, Dimapur with Nagaland Governor, Ashwani Kumar as the chief guest, accompanied by his wife and a host of guests including State commissioner for Disabilities, Dr. Atha Vizol. In sign language, the students sang “Morning by morning new mercies I see...Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow”, stirring the hearts of many who take for granted the gift of hearing. The Governor in his address confessed that
Nagaland Governor, Ashwani Kumar with invitees and students of the Deaf Biblical Ministry on the occasion of World Deaf Day on September 26. (Morung Photo)
his wife was shedding tears and that even he was overcome with emotion at the performance of the deaf students. “I think it’s high time that we evolve a universal sign language, which is applicable for the deaf as well as people who can hear”, the governor said and added such a step would help cut down the barriers of communication between the deaf and those who can hear. Kumar stated that with rapid advancement in science and technology, the deaf or other differently abled persons have become less isolated and are now able to share their feelings and thoughts
through mediums such as social networks and mobile phones. Noticing the use of a mobile phone during a skit by the students, the governor donated Rs. 1 lakh to DBM so that every deaf student of the Ministry can own a mobile phone. Kumar said mobile phones through its various applications like SMS, internet connectivity and vibration can help the deaf students in acquiring more information and knowledge. Further, the governor said that the deaf should be guaranteed rights to education and economic empowerment. Lauding the pioneering mission of DBM founder and principal, Rev.
Yanger Walling and his wife, Kumar reminded that the Ministry needs the support of all section of people and not just the government. Later, the Governor inspected the handicraft exhibition displaying products crafted and made by the deaf students. State commissioner for Disabilities, Dr. Atha Vizol said deaf people are no less than others and in many cases they prove to be “more sensitive and productive” than people who can hear. Impressed by the songs, skit, dance and recitation presented by the deaf students, the commissioner said, “Your action speaks louder than words.”
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